Birds singing
in the dark
—Rainy dawn.
By Jack Kerouac
Shin-Ah used the money to purchase a room at the local inn. The innkeeper gave him an odd look, but gave him a room anyway. Once inside, Shin-Ah laid Yona down on the bed. Her face was pale as snow, and she still had some blood on her cheeks. Shin-Ah used the corner of the bed sheet to wipe away the blood.
Ao crawled up and licked Yona's face. The girl's face scrunched up, and her eyes opened. She blinked in confusion for a moment, then her face fell, and Yona put her pale hands over her eyes. Shin-Ah took a step forward.
"Yona," he whispered. "Are you okay?"
Yona groaned.
"Oh Shin-Ah," she said softly. "I'm sorry for making you worry." Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked at her hands.
"They're so red," she whispered. The blue dragons lip trembled, and he lay his head down on her stomach. Yona smiled sadly. She lifted the blanket up.
"Lay with me for a while, Shin-Ah," she said quietly. He kicked his shoes off and curled up next to her, his arms wrapped around her middle. She put her hand on his head, petting Ao.
"I'm so pitiful," she said, tears falling down her face. "I killed one person, and I'm falling apart." Shin-Ah inched closer.
"It doesn't matter how many you kill," he said quietly. "It matters that you killed."
They fell asleep a little while after, clinging to each other.
Blood. Blood everywhere. Yona stared ahead of her, at all of the men and woman in pile. She opened her mouth the cry out, but blood trickled from her lips. She looked down, and saw a knife in her hand. Yona gasped, choking on the red, salty liquid.
Then, suddenly her heart went numb. She didn't feel anything. Yona fell to her knees, mouth open, eyes dull. Why couldn't she feel? She felt like she was...dead.
Yona woke up, her eyes half closed. Shin-Ah was gone, and Ao was curled up next to her head. Yona sat up, putting her bare feet down on the cold floor. Like she was in a trance, she walked towards the candle that had been lit. Slowly, she put her fingers in the flickering flame. She gasped at the pain, and pulled her hand out.
Yona was alive. So why did her heart feel the way it did? She sat down on the ground, sucking at her burnt fingers. She turned when she heard the door to the room open, and saw Shin-Ah walk in with a tray of food. He placed down, then noticed her fingers and rushed forward. He grabbed her hand, mouth open.
"How?" He asked, his voice soft with worry. Yona drew back from him, like an injured animal.
"It's nothing," she said, putting fingers back into her mouth. "I just stumbled into the candle." Shin-Ah went and blew the candle out. As he went to open the shutters to let some light into the dark room, he wondered why Yona had lit a candle, when it was sunny outside.
Though Yona insisted she was fine, Shin-Ah fed her the soup himself. The food tasted like ash on her tongue, but she didn't have the heart to tell him so. He forced her to drink water, and then ate himself once he was sure she had eaten enough.
They left the soon after eating, not wanting to spend too much time in one place, in case Shou had any friends. Shin-Ah wanted to ask what they were going to do next, but Yona's eyes held such darkness, he did not think it a good idea to do so. He tried to take her hand, but she pulled away.
Yona felt a hand land on her shoulder, and she glanced back in surprise. It was Kiyomi. The woman was dressed as usual, her kimono open just a little too much in the front. The woman smiled, the corners of her ruby red lips drawing up ever so slightly. She glanced at Shin-Ah.
"May I have a private word with your friend?" She asked, tilting her head. "Woman to woman?" Shin-Ah looked like he was going to refuse her request, but Yona laid a gentle hand on his arm.
"I'll be right back," she promised. Leaning closer, she whispered, "Besides, I still have my dagger." Yona smiled at the woman, and followed her. Kiyomi led her to a quiet alley, free of people save a single homeless man. The woman wasted no time.
"Why did you kill Shou?" She asked, her too white teeth shining in the darkness. Yona thought she should have felt nervous, but her heart stayed calm.
"Why do you ask?" She said, her hand, inching ever closer to the dagger in her pocket. "I thought you didn't like him." Kiyomi flipped her hair.
"I make it a habit to ask why someone deserves to die," she said. "Especially in a way as cruel as a dagger to the heart." Kiyomi had reached into the folds of her Kimono.
Yona did not want to kill her. Not really. But she made a split second decision to do so. Yona's place fingers wrapped around dagger, and she plunged the blade into the woman's stomach. Kiyomi's eyes widened. Her own knife dropped from her hands, and she fell to her knees. Blood trickled out of her mouth, and Yona was reminded of her dream. Kiyomi looked at her.
"Oh, my dear girl," she whispered. "Forgive me. I have failed." With that, she died. Yona pulled the dagger from body, and was scared to see that her hands weren't even shaking. Yona felt something just then, like someone was breathing on the back of her neck. She turned, but saw no one. Yona ran.
Shin-Ah stared at the corpse. Yona had done this? Sweet, gentle Yona, who had healed his wounds and loved him when no one else would?
Shin-Ah looked down, and saw a drop of blood. It was a trail. Yona hadn't bothered to clean her dagger. Shin-Ah took one last look at the woman's body, and then hurried away.
The homeless man, who had watched all this, crept forward. He reached for the woman, but when his shaking fingers touched her, she turned to dust.
